Attending Academic Conferences as a Cancer Patient
As an AI researcher, I used to attend academic conferences quite often. After a long pause due to COVID-19 and my cancer diagnosis, followed by half a year of medical leave, I’ve only recently resumed attending and presenting at conferences.
This year alone, I’ve attended the following academic conferences:
- ICASSP (April 2024, Seoul, Korea), where I presented ISPA: Inter-Species Phonetic Alphabet for Transcribing Animal Sounds, at the co-located workshop XAI-SA
- LREC-COLING (May 2024, Turin, Italy), where I presented Project MOSLA: Recording Every Moment of Second Language Acquisition, which was nominated as a best paper candidate!
- CVPR (June 2024, Seattle, USA), where I attended an workshop on foundation models
- COLM (Oct 2024, Philadelphia, USA), the first conference on language modeling
Every time I attend, I have a great time reconnecting with old researcher friends, meeting new people, and discussing what everyone has been up to. Since my cancer diagnosis, I’ve slightly adjusted how I approach conferences. Here are some things I’ve changed and keep in mind—hopefully, this is helpful for others facing similar challenges.
Prioritize Catching Up with Old Friends Over Meeting New People
Since it’s been a while since I’ve seen many of my research friends in person, I prioritize catching up with them over networking with new people. If I know someone I’m familiar with is attending a conference, I’ll message them directly to set up a one-on-one lunch, dinner, or coffee. This has worked well, and I’ve had meaningful conversations this way.
Also, this "private conversation" approach helps counter a common situation—having spent much of my research career in Japan, I know many Japanese researchers. At international conferences, Japanese researchers from similar affiliations often flock together, which can limit the opportunity to interact with the broader international academic community.
Attend on Behalf of Someone Else
Since my employer, Earth Species Project, covers the costs of attending conferences, I make sure to take detailed notes on interesting talks and papers so my colleagues can benefit from my attendance. When I was a PhD student, conferences were more about me learning new things, but now I approach them with the goal of sharing insights with others.
Be Upfront About My Diagnosis
When catching up with old friends or meeting new people at conferences, I try to be upfront about my cancer diagnosis (though most people already know from social media or word of mouth). Few people fully understand what "Stage IV metastatic lung cancer" means, but being open about it has led to deeper conversations. I share this because I’d appreciate it if others did the same in a similar situation.
Be Cautious About COVID-19 and Overeating :)
Since I’m on chemotherapy, which lowers my immunity, I’m extra careful about COVID-19 and infections in general. Conferences can be breeding grounds for germs, and I know many people who’ve caught COVID-19 at these events. I wear masks, wash my hands frequently, and avoid situations where many people gather in closed spaces for long periods (e.g., happy hour in a crowded bar).
Also, with all the food opportunities at conferences—coffee breaks, receptions, etc.—it’s easy to eat unhealthily or have more than intended. I try to be mindful of what and how much I eat. :)